Container for flowers and the like



Aug. 14, 1962 A. BOETTICHER ETAL 3,943,942

CONTAINER FOR FLOWERS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 3, 1958 \NVENTORSGAudrey. L. BoeHicher Nbefi' Boe rficher ATTORNEY Unite State's 3,048,942CONTAINER FOR FLDWERS AND TIE LIKE Audrey L. Boetticher and Albert A.Boetticher, both of 2665 Sheldon Place, Oceanside, NH. Filed Sept. 3,1958, Ser. N 758,761 2 Claims. (Cl. 47-41) This invention relates tocontainers which are substantially impervious to water, and moreparticularly, to such containers which are capable of retaining thereinflowers .and the like having their stems at least partially immersed inwater.

As the art of flower arrangement has developed, the design andconstruction of containers adapted to permit the arranger to give fullscope to his creative talents has been hard pressed to progress at thesame pace. In re sponse to a definite need, containers have beenproduced which carry means therein to permit individual flowers to beretained in the container and spaced from the container walls insubstantially upright position. The arranger is thereby freed from thenecessity of supporting flowers against the walls of the container oragainst the stems of adjacent flowers.

Most useful among such containers have been those which containpinholders, which conventionally consist of groups of closely spaced,axially aligned shafts of metal imbedded in a block of lead or otherheavy material. The shafts terminate in sharp points, and the stems offlowers to be supported in the container are axially impaled on thepoints and the pins forced a suitable distance within the stems. Apinholder, being weighted, is permitted to rest freely on the bottom ofa container, and is generally immersed in water.

Despite advantageous aspects of their employment, there are seriousdisadvantages to the use of pinholders in flower arrangement. A majordisadvantage is the cost of the pinholder. Pinholders are normallypurchased in the form of blocks that present but a few square inches ofimpaling surface. To line the entire bottom of a container of evenmoderate dimensions with a series of pinholders is prohibitivelyexpensive for commercial application, since many floral arrangementsprofessionally supplied for ceremonies and the like are not expected tobe recovered. Because of this prospective loss, containers for thesearrangements must be inexpensive, and pinholders are not used.

Another disadvantage of pinholders is the fact that the pins therein areconventionally composed of metal and are sharply pointed. Thus they areimpractical for utilization in the instruction of children or thephysically or mentally handicapped in flower arrangement, an art ofgreat value as a physical therapy. In addition, a pin holder commonlyhas a flat bottom, making the use of the pinholder impossible in acontainer having a curved bottom.

Also, pinholders, being positioned by the force of gravity, arenecessarily located only on the bottom of the container, and will,without additional support, slide if the container is angularlydisplaced. The floral arrangement will be disrupted if the pinholderchanges its position.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved container for flowers and the like in which individual flowerstems may be maintained in substantially vertical position thereinspaced from and unsupported by side walls of the container and otherstems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedcontainer for flowers and the like in which flowers may be maintained insubstantially upright position when the bottom of the container iscurvilinear.

It is still another object of the present invention to pro- -vide animproved container ideally suited for use as a physical therapy aid forteaching the art of floral arrangement.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedcontainer for flowers and the like in which flowers may be maintained inspaced relation from the walls of the container when the container isangularly displaced.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide animproved container for flowers and the like in which the flowers may bemaintained in spaced relation from the Walls of the container and whichwill be sub stantially less expensive to manufacture than othercontainers which have that purpose.

A container according to this invention has an inner surface withretaining portions positioned to hold water within the container. Otherthan that requisite the shape of the container may vary. A plurality ofpin members project outwardly from at least one of the water-retainingportions, such pin members being spaced along that portion and beingintegral with the body of the container.

The pin members may, for example, extend from the bottom of thecontainer only, or from the bottom and the side Walls of the container.As the pins are integral with the container body, they may extendoutwardly from a plane or curvilinear surface. Generally, the body ofthe container will be formed from a moldable material im pervious towater, such as a thermoplastic resin, and the container body and the pinmembers will be formed in the same molding process.

Unlike the pin of a pinholder, the pins according to the presentinvention may be tapered throughout their length, terminating in a bluntpoint.

These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention willbecome more apparent from the following, detailed description ofillustrated embodiments of the invention. The detailed descriptionrefers to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section of one embodiment of a container accordingto the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the containerutilized as a Window box, the front wall of the container having beenremoved, and

FIG. 3 is a front elevation, partly cut away, of another embodiment ofthe container used as a liner for a conventional container.

The sectional view of FIG. 1 shows a container 10, which has a bottom 11and a continuous, curvilinear wall 12. The inner surface 13 of thecontainer id is generally cup-shaped to retain a quantity of water 15 inthe container.

Pin members 16 are arranged in spaced relation over the entire bottom 11of the container 10. While such distribution is not readily apparentfrom the sectional view of FIG. 1 alone, the distribution over thebottom 11 is like that shown in FIG. 2. In addition, the wall 12contains pin members 17, which may be spaced around the wall in alignedrows, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or arranged in such designs as may befound desirable.

It will be seen that pin members 16 and 17 are integral with the bottom11 and the wall 12, respectively. These pin members form unitaryextensions of the container 10, and are composed of the same material asthe container. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, pin members 16 are shown inan arrangement whereby those pin members nearest the center of thebottom 11 are of greater length and mean diameter than those fartherfrom the center. Such an arrangement of pin members is designed so thatthe larger and heavier stems of the flowers 19 may be impaled on thelonger, wider pin members 16, and other size pin members will beavailable for smaller stems. This is but one satisfactory arrangement ofpin members 16.

Stems 18 of flowers 19 also may be impaled on wall pin members 17 Pinmembers 17 can be used to axially impale stems too short to protrudefrom the container if impaled on bottom pin members 16. If desired, thelevel of the water may be raised to cover some or all of the pin members17. Thus it will be seen that a satisfactory distribution of pin members16 and 17 is one which will give the arranger wide latitude in composinga floral display and enable the arranger to use flowers having stems ofvarying lengths and diameters.

Another use of the container according to the present invention is seenin FIG. 2. The container 26 has a bottom 21, protruding from the uppersurface of which are pin members 22 of substantially uniform length.Flower pots 23 fed by wicks 24, each of which extends through the bottomof a pot, rest on the pin members 2-2. The wicks 24 absorb water fromthe bottom 21 of the container 20, the pin members 22 permitting air tocirculate under the pots 23. Such a positioning of pots 23 isparticularly effective if the pots 23 are to be left unattended for asubstantial period of time. Wick-fed plants will absorb only such wateras they require, yet according to the embodiment of FIG. 2, have alarge, potential water supply.

The container may also be used to root cuttings, such as pathos vine,coleus, English ivy and philodendron, which require only water. It isalso adapted to be used for growing bulbs, which require but should notbe submerged in water. Examples of such bulbs are hyacinths, Chinesesacred lilies and autumn crocuses.

FIG. 3 illustrates a container according to the present inventionutilized as a liner for another container. The container is so formedthat the outer surface 31 thereof is generally hemispherical and fitssnugly against the inner surface 32 of the pedestal container 33. Inthis position the container 30, which is substantially impervious toliquids, serves to hold water which would otherwise come in contact withthe pedestal container 33, while container 30 is hidden from many anglesof view when in operative position.

It is often desirable to employ a liner for pedestal and other types ofcontainers which, for example, may be composed of wood, alabaster orother material not suited to prolonged contact with water. Silvercontainers, which become discolored on lengthy contact with water, areideally adapted to use with such a liner.

The pin members 35 of FIG. 3 are integral with the container 30. Pinmembers 35 are, like pin members 16,

tapered from their broadest diameter at the base of the: pin members, totheir narrowest diameter at their outer extremities or tips 36. Tips 36,however, are blunted, so that the container 3% may be used in physicaltherapy for the treatment of those whose mental or physical affiictionmake it impossible for them to work with sharp,

pointed pinholders.

the first time utilize the advantages of pin members in preparing floralarrangements for occasions Where the containers and flowers will not berecoverable.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been.

described hereinbefore and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, itwill be apparent that the novel features of the invention may beembodied in other forms of con tainers. It is desired, therefore, thatthe invention be limited only by the scope of the following appended.

claims.

We claim:

1. A container for flowers and the like, comprising a body formed from amoldable material and having a bottom and a wall surrounding andextending upwardly from said bottom to an upper margin of said wall, anda plurality of pin members formed from the same moldable material assaid body and suitable for impaling the stems of flowers thereon, saidpin members being unitary with said body and projecting within said bodyupwardly from said bottom and inwardly and upwardly from said Wall tolocations below said wall upper margin.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one of said pinmembers is of greater mean diameter and length than others of said pinmembers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS980,565 Sanborn Jan. 3, 1911 1,596,716- Clarke Aug. 17, 1926 1,868,302Oaki July 26, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 698,531 Great Britain Oct. 14, 1953709,356 Great Britain May 19, 1954

